Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/721

 V I N

a ftate of vapidity. The only objection to this general rule, is, that if a new fermentation, or even but a fret be raifed, when the fpirit is newly joined to the remainder in the ftill, the fpirit may be thus re-inftated, and the wine rendered per- fect. The procefs is different and uncertain ; but a nice ma- nagement, and a proper intermedium, will bring it about. If an inflammable fpirit diftilled from the fame, or any other Wine, be put to a parcel of Wine which is too faline, or not fufficiently fpirituous, the bare addition, or tumultuous admixture thereof, very far from giving the fine and intimate ioftnefs of a good fVine, will rather manifeft its own burning acrimony andnidorous flavour to the fmell and taffe, and will add a naufeous bitternefs to the former tartnefs or acidity. This is an obfervation of Stahl's, and is allowed by Dr. Shaw to be true in general ; but he obferves, that, under a nice and proper management, a fine and taftclefs fpirit may be pre- pared and introduced into Wines, and will, after a time, be- come intimately mixed with their other part, and remain ab- folutely undifcoverable to the tafte or fmell, unlefs by the ex- cellency and the ftrength it gives. Stabl's Schediafma de concentrat. Vini. See the article Wines, Spirit, &c.

Vinum Aloeticum Alkalinum, a form of medicine in the late London Difpenfatory, intended to Hand in the place of Helmont's elixir proprietatis : It is prepared in this man- ner : Take of bay fixed alkaline fait eight ounces, aloes, myrrh, and faffron, of each an ounce, purified fal armo- niac fix drams, white wine a quart; infufe them together without heat for a week, or longer, and then filtre the wine through paper for life. Pembcrlon's London Difpen. p. 262.

Vinum cbalybeatum, Chalybeate Wine, is thus prepared : Take filings of iron four ounces, cinnamon and mace, of each half an ounce, of Rhenilh Time, two quarts; infufe a month without heat, often fhaking the vefl'el ; then filtre it off for ufe. This is the prefcription of the new London Dif- penfatory, and is vaftly preferable to that of the former, where only faffron was ordered.

This Wine is an excellent ftomachic and aperient ; it may be drank a moderate glafs once or twice a day, or mixed in a- pozems of the aperient vegetables.

Vinum Ejjulum, in chynnllry, a term ufed by Paracelfus,'and fome others, to exprefs Wine concentrated by freezing, after a long and low heat ; the method of making it was this : They fet the Wine in horfe-dung three months in a glafs, hermeti- cally fealed, and then expofed it to the froft y air for a month, after which they threw away the ice, and faved the unfrozen liquor.

This was their Vinum EJfatum, called alfo eflence of Wine ; and fpirit of 'Wine, and it is in this fenfe, that Paracelfus fays, fpirit of Wine is a not-inflammable liquor, a paflage that very few have underftood.

Moll of the antient chemical pbilofophers profefs, that they ufed fpirit of Wine for the diffolving of gold. We know very well, that what we call fpirit of Wine has no foch power ; and if we may judge from Rolfink, the emperor Rudolphus employed the Vinum EJfatum, or concentrated Wine of Para- celfus, for that purpofe. Vigain, in his Medulla Chemix, has faid a great deal of the virtues of the fpirit of Wine, fome of which deferve to be carefully enquired into ; the others are evidently idle and imaginary. What Paracelfus delivers on the fame fubject, deferves alio to be confidered. Vigain Medul. Chem. ParaeelJ. de Archidoxis. Stahl, who has written a great deal on the concentration of IVine by freezing, concludes his effay, by telling us, that he who has this fecret, by means of a little dry powdry body of turning water into wine, will not perhaps eafily divulge the capital ufe he may make of fuch a fecret. Dr. Shaw obferves, that the author of this treatife intimates fomewhat concifely, but candidly and philofophically enough, the poffibility of doing wonders with a thing that is not diffi- cult to be had with us : the myftery lies in the words, little, dry, and powdery ; and Dr. Shaw, tho' he does not perfectly explain himfelf upon the fubject, fays, that the body is common, and that England abounds with it ; that it is totally and tranf- • parently foluble in water, fermentable, perfeflly white, and fweet as fugar; the other goes not fo far as this, nor is it cer- tain that this is his meaning ; but if not, it is at leaft a very remarkable fact, and comes attefted by a very good hand. Whatever may be the ufes of concentrated Wine in chemiftry, it is plain, that it may be of the greateft fervice in t the com- mon affairs of life, as it may be eafy to have it prepared in fufficient qantities in the Wine countries, and imported hither, where a very fmall portion of it will render the loweft and worn: of our Wines very rich. Shaw's Chem. Effay.

Vinum extemporaneum, a name given by Dr. Shaw and others, to a fort of extemporaneous vinous liquor, made without fer- mentation, from the melafles fpirit, lemons, water, and fu- gar, in the following manner : Some good found lemons are to be cut into dices, rind and all, and put into a quantity of pure and fine melafles fpirit ; when they have flood in infufioH three or four days, the liquor is to be (trained clear off, and filter'd ; and having before prepared a very thin fyrup of the fineft fu- gar diffolved in fpring-water ; the two liquors are to be mixed together. The proportions of this mixture can only be hit by repeated trials, but when once found, it will be eafy to Suppl. Vol. II,

V I o

"let to m" y ^reig,™- «! iqU ° r *" """ * *** ** Vini Oleum, oil rf wine, a very precious liquid, kent aS a fecret in the hands of fome dealers in fpirits, and uV.d ' to gtve the brandy flavour to fpirits of left price. It is certain, that all he fpints we ufe take their flavour from the cffential oil of the fubftance they are made from, that of malt is very nau- leous and oftenfive, and renders the fpirit horribly difaereeable if not carefully kept back in the diftillation of it; that of the grape on the other hand, is extremely agreeable, and is what gives the delicious flavour to French brandy : this therefore is %°? carefully brought over among the fpirit in diftillation. J his is that oil of Wine fo much celebrated among our diftil- ers, and is for their ufe made feparate, and is of fuch eft'eft, that half an ounce of it will determine a pure and clear malt ipiilt to be rrench brandy, fo as to ftand the tell of the mceft palate ; and all the trials that can be invented, provided the oil and the (pint have both been carefully made, i he manner of making the oil is this : They take fome cakes; ot dry wine lees, fuch as are ufed by our hatters, and diffolv- ing them in fa or eight times their weight of water, they di- ftfl the liquor with a flow fire, and feparate the oil by the iepa- ratingpot, refcrving for this nice ufe only that which comes over nrft.theoil that follows being coarfer', and more refinous. 1 o render this bufinefs perfectly fuccefsful, there muff be fe- veral things obferved : I. The lee muff be of the right kind, that is, of the fame nature with the French brandy propofed to be .nutated. 2. The malt fpirit muff be extremely pure. 3. J he dole of the oil muff be very well proportioned : and, 4- -I he whole muff be artificially united into one fimple and homogene liquor. Thefe cautions all regard only the tafte, and betide thefe, in order to come up to a nice counterfeit, fe- deral other particulars muft be attended to; fuch as the co- lour, proof, tenacity, foftnefs, and the like ; fo that, in lnort, the operation has too much nicety in it to be hit of by every ordinary dealer. When this fine Oil of wine is pro- cured, it may be mixed into aquinteffence, with pure diftilled alcohol, or the totally inflammable fpirit of wine, to prevent its growing diftafteful, rancid, or refinous ; and thus it may be long preferved in full poffeffion of its flavour and virtues. I he ftp bottoms, or remaining matter after the diftillation of this oil, will yield many produdions to advantage, particu- larly tartar, and fait of tartar, as alfo an empyreumatic oil, a a. „ a,,le faIt > like that of animals. Some kinds of lees afford all thele in much greater quantity than others ; the lees of canary and mountain wines yield very little of them, and indeed, fcare any tartar, or fixed fait at all; but the white i rench lees of thofe thin wines, that afford theordinary brandies, yield them all very copioufly, infomuch, that fometimes a lingle hogfhead of dry and clofe-preffed lees will afford by this procefs, three gallons of brandy, forty pounds of clean tartar, a large proportion of empyreumatic oil, and volatile fait, be- fide full four pounds of good fait of tartar. It is not to be expefted, however, that every parcel of this lee fhould yield fully in this proportion, Sbaw's Effay on Diftillery, Chium Vinum. See the article Chium Vinum. VIOLA, the Violet, in botany, the name of a genus of plants ; the charafters of which are thefe : The flower is of the poly- petalous, anomalous kind, much refembling the papilionaceous ones. The piftil arifes from the cup, and finally becomes a feed veflel, ufually of a trigonal form, which opens in three places when ripe, and contains roundifh feeds. The fpecies of Violet, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe: 1, The common purple fwect-fcented Violet. 2. The fweet-fcentcd garden purple Violet, with large leaves. 3. The common wild fcentlefs Violet, with larger and rounder leaves. 4. The common wild fcentlefs Violet, with longer, narrower, and more pointed leaves. 5. The common white Violet. 6. The blue flowered Violet, with fmaller flowers, and fmaller leaves. 7. The double purple Violet. 8. The double red Violet. 9. The double white Violet. 10. The double variegated red and white Violet. 11. The greyifh flowered double Violet. 12. The double Volet, with very large flowers. 13. The double Violet, with very deep purple fmall flowers. 14. The round-leav- ed marfh Violet. 15. The mountain Violet, with leaves divided into many fegments. 1 6. The purple alpine Violet, with very fmall leaves. 17. The round-leaved yellow flow- ered alpine violet. 18. The leflir round-leaved yellow flow- ered alpine Violet. 19. The dwarf narrow-leaved mountain Violet, with fnow-white fcentlefs flowers. 20. The purple- tree Violet. 21. The tree Violet, with blue and white flowers. 22. The yellow-flowered tree Violet. 23. The fweet-fcented three-coloured mountain Violet, or hcart's-eafe. 24. The great flowered yellow mountain Violet. 25. The great flow- ered white mountain Violet. 26. The yellow mountain Vio- let, with roundifh crenated leaves. 27. The blue three co- loured mountain Violet, with roundifh crenated leaves. 28. The great flowered blue mountain Violet. 29. The yellow mountain Violet, with leaves not crenated. 30. The moun- tain three coloured Violet, or panfic, with variegated flowers. 31. The common creeping garden panlie. 32. The creep- ing garden panlie, with yellow and white flowers. 33. The

creeping garden panne, with white and blue flowers. 34, - " The


 * H